5 Managers Arsenal should target to replace Arsene Wenger
By Stephen Fox
With his contract expiring in the summer, Arsenal face the very real possibility of not having Arsene Wenger as manager next season. Here are five managers who the Arsenal board should look to target if he does decide to leave.
Tuesday night saw Bayern Munich once again eliminate Arsenal from the round of 16 in the Champions League with an embarrassing 10-2 aggregate win, with Bayern winning both matches 5-1. For Arsenal, this season has gone has gone as expected for them and it is glaringly similar to seasons gone by where they are out of the title race and Europe by March and now have their sights set firmly on attempting to ensure that they can find a spot in the top four while also attempting to lift the FA Cup in May but while achieving top four may have been enough for Wenger to slightly quiet the naysayers for another season, this season feels much different to previous seasons.
The growing discontent within the Arsenal fanbase over Arsenals lack of trophies over the last twelve years and the way in which Arsenals season can almost perfectly be predicted at the start of every season after a lacklustre transfer window along with the possibility of Arsenal potentially not finishing within the top four as they’re currently battling it out with Manchester United and Liverpool for the fourth spot means that Arsene Wenger may decide to not renew his contract in the summer when it expires.
While Wenger does have a two-year contract extension on the table if he decides that he wants to continue at Arsenal, the club for the first time in a very long time face the reality that the one constant at the club for the last 21 year may not be there in the dugout in August.
If Wenger does decide to leave the club, the Arsenal board will need to be very careful with who they decide should succeed him. While there has been rumours about the idea of a club legend like Thierry Henry, currently the assistant manager of the Belgium National Team, taking over or even somebody like Eddie Howe from Bournemouth, with the amount of money in the Premier League and the competitiveness of the league getting stronger every season, Arsenal would be wise to look at a manager who can win trophies and has experience managing a big club.
The very last thing Arsenal would want is hiring a manager who does not have the capabilities or personality that is required to manage a club with the expectations of Arsenal and will want to avoid what Manchester United did with hiring David Moyes.
But there are similarities between United and Arsenal should Wenger decide to go – while Arsenals team may not be as old as the team Sir Alex Ferguson left behind, it is clear that the majority of the Arsenal team will need to be replaced as far too many of the players are mediocre and not good enough in quality to demand supporter expectation of the club and with star player Alexis Sanchez most likely to leave the club in the summer along with doubts over whether Mesut Ozil will stay as well, any new manager who arrives may potentially need to replace two world-class players in key positions for Arsenal.
So who should Arsenal look to target should Arsene Wenger decide to leave at the end of his contract/ Here’s five potential candidates: